Themis Elder Titaness
Themis the Titaness of justice, law and order. Themis is also a prophecy goddess who presided over some of the most ancient oracles, including Delphi. Because of this, Themis was the divine voice (themistes) who first instructed mankind in the laws of justice and morality. Examples of these rules include: * Pious offerings to the gods * Precepts of piety * Rules of hospitality * Good governance * Conduct of assembly Themis was Zeus's second wife. She was represented sitting next to his throne giving him advice on the precepts of divine law and the rules of fate. Themis was closely tied with Demeter. One reason for this is because Themis' six children presided over springtime and death, Themis is also close with Gaia, the oracular voice of the earth. Titaness of justice. Themis was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. Like her mother, she was known as the earth-goddess. She later became known as the goddess of order and justice. Themis became the mother of many children: the Seasons(Horae) - Eunomia ("Order"), Dike ("Justice") and Eirene ("Peace") - and the Fates (Moerae). Themis had married her brother Iapetus (before she was wife of Zeus), and became the mother of the Titan Prometheus. She was also gifted with the prophecy or oracle, like her mother. Delphi originally belonged to Gaea, before Themis received it from her mother. Later she relinquished the oracle at Delphi to Phobe then later Apollo. Justice was not only found in Olympus and on Earth, for it will also be found in the Underworld. It was her judgement that was final, if the shade goes to the Elysian Fields or to Tartarus. Themis was seen as the seated goddess, wearing a blindfold over her eyes; the blindfold symbolised her impartiality in judgement and setting reward or penalty to the dead. The Erinyes or the Furies would take the guilty to Tartarus. Themis had three attendants, who also acted as judges over the souls of the dead in the Underworld. They were sons of Zeus - one of them was Aeacus, king of Aeacus and the son of Aegina, the other two were Rhadamanthys and Minos, whose mother was Europa. The three judges became minor gods of the Underworld. The ability of the goddess Themis to foresee the future enabled her to become one of the Oracles of Delphi, which in turn led to her establishment as the goddess of divine justice. blindfolded (because of her talent for prophecy, she had no need to see) she holds a sword (The sword is also believed to represent the ability Themis had from cutting fact from fiction, to her there was no middle ground. Themis built the Oracle at Delphi and was herself oracular. Themis received the Oracle at Delphifrom Gaia and later gave it to Phoebe. When Themis is disregarded, Nemesis brings just and wrathful retribution, thus Themis is not wrathful: she, "of the lovely cheeks", was the first to offer Hera a cup when she returned to Olympus distraught over threats from Zeus Themis presided over the proper relation between man and woman, the basis of the rightly ordered family (the family was seen as the pillar of the deme), and judges were often referred to as "themistopóloi" (the servants of Themis). Such was the basis for order upon Olympus too. Even Hera addressed her as "Lady Themis." The name of Themis might be substituted for Adrasteia in telling of the birth of Zeus on Crete. Themis was present at Delos to witness the birth of Apollo. According to Ovid, it was Themis rather than Zeus who told Deucalion to throw the bones of "his Mother" over his shoulder to create a new race of humankind after the Deluge. Children The only consort for Themis mentioned in the sources below is Zeus. One of her few children was called Natura, the Greek goddess of the forest. Dike, as the daughter of Zeus and Themis Dike executed the law of judgments and sentencing and, together with her mother Themis, carried out the final decisions of Moirai. Justice is at the center of religious and moral life, who, independently of Zeus, is the embodiment of divine will. This personification of Dike will stand in contrast to justice viewed as custom or law, and as retribution or sentence. Horai: the Hours With Zeus she more certainly bore the Horae,7 those embodiments of the right moment – the rightness of Order unfolding in Time – and Astraea.